As a mum, I knew I wanted to instill the love of reading to my children but the truth was, all the books I bought for my son when he was born were the wrong books. 😅
Despite being well-intentioned, I can safely say I was clueless and did not have any knowledge whatsoever regarding childrens’ development and what books were age-appropriate. I didn’t even know board books existed, so I started off with paperback children's books hahahhah (#DontJudgeMe) 😂
Alhamdulillah after a few months of trial and error, I would say that I have a pretty solid book collection now which my son and I both love. I wanted to document all of this for future reference (if / when I have more children in shaa Allah!) and to help well-intentioned parents who are also as clueless as I was ❤️
The time spent reading with my son helped us bond and it has definitely instilled a love of reading in him, Alhamdulillah. It has also really helped with his language acquisition & development and helped (and continues to help) in building his vocabulary. All praise is due to Allah, Alhamdulillah.
A general recommendation when searching for books for babies:
- Books that contain real pictures are the best.
- If you’re purchasing a book that contains illustrations, ensure that the illustrations are simple. It is best to have books that focus on very few things when reading to a baby.
- Purchase books with very short sentences. It is also good to have books that rhymes and has repetitive sentences.
- I was very surprised to find out how awesome baby books are in 2022! There are books that include different materials for a sensorial experience, there are lift-the-flap books, push-and-pull books, etc. Anything that is tactile and interactive is always good.
- Buuuut, I’d personally recommend to stay away from 3D / pop-up books, though. They don’t survive the curiosities and ruthlessness of babies!
- Lastly, it’s not about the quantity of books that you have, it’s about the quality of the books and quality time spent with your child. It is actually really good to read the same books over and over again to babies!
This is a continuation of a series of blog posts. You may find Part 2: Books for Babies (a.k.a My Personal Favourites) here.
Lots of love and happy reading!
-Aisyah.
